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Tommy was accidentally conceived when his father, Jimmy Darmody, was attending Princeton College. Jimmy left Princeton shortly afterwards to fight in World War I. Tommy's parents were not married and Jimmy was abroad when he was born. He was raised solely by his mother Angela Darmody while Jimmy was fighting overseas. Jimmy was injured towards the end of the war and then spent an extended period recuperating in hospital. Jimmy moves in with the family in an apartment on his return to Atlantic City. Tommy is initially fearful of Jimmy.

Jimmy eats breakfast with Tommy and Angela on day one of prohibition, about a month after getting back. Jimmy affectionately calls Tommy "Skeezix" and tries to teach him table manners. Jimmy is please when Tommy repeats his calling Paddy Ryan a sap. The next day Jimmy and Angela take Tommy to see a silent comedy at the cinema, he stands on his seat to get a better view. Afterwards they walk down the boardwalk. Tommy wants to eat taffy but Jimmy refuses to buy any, joking that his son already resembles Fatty Arbuckle Junior. Tommy also tries to go into Dittrich's photography but Angela restrains him. After Jimmy returns safely from hijacking a shipment of bootleg alcohol belonging to New York crime boss Arnold Rothstein he plays with Tommy while Angela paints. ("Boardwalk Empire")

Angela and Tommy come home to find Jimmy waiting for them, feeling flush after the hijacking. Jimmy wishes them a Merry Christmas and takes Tommy to see the decorations he has bought. Angela points out that it is late January. Jimmy tells her Nucky gave him a bonus and says he did not want to wait until next December. Jimmy gives Tommy the package to unwrap – it is a toy truck. He gives Angela an expensive bracelet. She is concerned about the cost and he asks her to leave their financial worries to him. He reveals his next gift, a vacuum sweeper, which was difficult to obtain. Tommy is frightened by the sound of the vacuum cleaner and Angela takes him to bed. ("The Ivory Tower")

Jimmy playfully chases Tommy along the boardwalk. Tommy runs into Dittrich’s photography and Jimmy follows him. The owner, Robert Dittrich, warmly greets Tommy, picking him up. Jimmy asks for Dittrich’s name and when Mary Dittrich realises who Jimmy is, she introduces herself. Mary calls Tommy photogenic and Robert says they are fond of both Tommy and Jimmy’s wife. Jimmy points out that he is not actually married to Angela, yet. Dittrich congratulates Jimmy on the engagement and Jimmy explains the delay by mentioning his war service. Dittrich calls the war thrilling and mentions wishing he had fought. Mary comments on the loveliness of Paris and Jimmy says he did not have time for sightseeing. Jimmy urges Tommy to leave and Tommy initially refuses. Dittrich lifts him to the door and asks Jimmy to pass on their best wishes to Angela. ("Broadway Limited")

Jimmy becomes suspicious that Angela has had an affair with Dittrich after he finds a photo of Angela posing with her hair held back and her shoulders bare. A survivor of the hijacking identifies Jimmy as one of the perpetrators and he is told to leave town by Nucky Thompson. At home Jimmy hurriedly packs a suitcase while arguing with Angela. Tommy is distressed by the argument. Later, as Jimmy takes the Broadway Limited service to Chicago, Illinois. Angela carries out the Christmas tree Jimmy bought and then uses his other gift, the vacuum cleaner, to clear the dropped needles. Tommy cowers behind the door frame frightened by the vacuum's noise. ("Broadway Limited")

Tommy's grandmother Gillian Darmody is visiting. Angela notes that Gillian has told Tommy to use her first name and says that most women are proud to be called grandma. Gillian explains that she doesn’t think she should be referred to as a grandmother while she is still fertile herself. Angela leaves, promising that she will not be out long. Gillian begins repairing Tommy’s toy truck. She notes that the quality of merchandise is dropping and recalls a toy train Jimmy had as a boy. She tells Tommy that it was a present from an admirer she had in the dried foods business. She fixes the broken wheel and asks Tommy for a thank you and then a kiss. She tells Tommy he will break hearts when he grows up. ("Anastasia")

Gillian gives Tommy whiskey in milk to sedate him when she thinks he is overexcited. Angela complains that Gillian should have asked her first. ("Nights in Ballygran")

In June 1920 Tommy watches Angela painting and tells her that the woman in the portrait looks pretty. Jimmy is invited to return to Atlantic City by Nucky. ("Hold Me in Paradise")

In July 1920 Jimmy arrives home. He talks to Tommy about industry while tying his son’s shoelaces. He mentions coal in the ground, lumber in the forest and cattle in the fields. He asks Tommy what sound cattle make and Tommy correctly mimics a cow’s moo. Jimmy says that on the train journey he looked out the window and saw only opportunity from coast to coast. Angela, pottering in the kitchen, notes that Jimmy has returned to their coast. Jimmy asserts that he is home where he is belong and Angela counters that he is there when he feels like showing up. Jimmy says that he had business to the West which he has now handled. Angela wonders what is next and Jimmy tells her that Nucky has offered him a job. She wonders if it is similar to the assistant clerk position he was offered in January. Jimmy says that the new job will allow them to buy a house, mentioning Marvin Gardens a development of beach houses on Ventnor Avenue. The phone rings and he answers. Angela calls Tommy over for his breakfast and Jimmy asks the caller to keep someone where they are. He ends the call and lifts Tommy into his chair. Angela asks who was ringing and he tells her that it was his mother, Gillian. He says that he has to leave and kisses his son and spouse before sitting down for breakfast. He asks why Angela isn’t joining them and she says that she want to make more coffee. He waits for her and then suggests that they have another child. He asks Tommy’s opinion and Tommy is positive. Angela braces herself against the worktop. ("Belle Femme")

Angela and Jimmy take Tommy to a Memorial Day Event in May 1921. Jimmy is unexpectedly asked to give a speech. He speaks humbly about his service during World War I and his motivations for fighting. He receives a round of applause and then proceeds to read the list of departed soldiers. ("Gimcrack & Bunkum")

At his home Tommy eats breakfast while Jimmy reads the paper. Angela answers the phone and tells Jimmy a man is returning his call. She has misheard Manny Horvitz’s nickname "Munya" as onions. Tommy interjects that he dislikes onions. Jimmy answers and warmly greets Manny. Jimmy asks his family to give him privacy and they leave the room. ("The Age of Reason")

Angela and Tommy overhear Jimmy on the phone with Al Capone discussing a failed assassination attempt against Nucky Thompson. Angela interrupts the conversation, scolding Jimmy for his language in front of Tommy. Jimmy wonders how long she has been standing there and she tells him long enough and says that she is going to the beach. At the beach Angela befriends a woman named Louise and introduces her to Tommy. ("Two Boats and a Lifeguard")

When Jimmy leaves for Princeton to sell cases of liquor, Angela sends Tommy to stay with his grandmother Gillian so that she can be alone with Louise, with whom she's begun a sexual relationship. Manny Horvitz comes to the house with the intention of murdering Jimmy. Manny shoots Louise as she exits the bathroom, surprised that it is not Jimmy. He then shoots Angela as she weeps over Louise's corpse. ("Georgia Peaches")

Upon Jimmy's return to Atlantic City, he discovers that Angela has been murdered and flies into a rage when Gillian reveals that she told Tommy that Angela has gone on a trip, and that she expects him to forget Angela quickly. Jimmy tries to strangle Gillian, but is stabbed by his father Louis Kaestner. Jimmy then kills Kaestner with a knife, and collapses. Later, after Kaestner's body has been taken away and Jimmy's wound dressed, Gillian brings Tommy downstairs. She reassures Tommy that Jimmy has not gone anywhere. Tommy tells Jimmy that he has had a bad dream and Jimmy says that he did too but that everything will be fine. Tommy asks for his mother, and Gillian says "Mommy is here," reassuring Tommy. Gillian tells Jimmy that he did not mean what he did and that they will not mention it again. She says things will get better and hopes that he can see that. She picks Tommy up and takes him upstairs. Jimmy stares up at her as she tells him one day soon his son will no longer be a little boy and that it happens just like that. She says that she will put Tommy to bed. ("Hold Me in Paradise")

Gillian Darmody has converted The Commodore's home into an upscale brothel and acts as madam to a large stable of prostitutes. She has kept on Richard Harrow as a "caretaker" and is raising her orphaned grandson Tommy Darmody as though he were her own child. She asks Richard to take Tommy to the boardwalk flea circus. While they are at the carnival, Richard tells Tommy about his mother after Tommy confuses Angela, his mother, with Gillian, his grandmother. When they get back home, Gillian discovers Richard has been telling Tommy about Angela. She warns him that the past is upsetting for Tommy, and reminds Richard that he is her employee. ("Resolution")

In the last episode of Season three, after the shooting in Gillian's brothel, Richard Harrow takes the traumatized Tommy to the Sagorskys house.

Tommy went under the alias "Joe Harper," to get close to Nucky Thompson. In the final installment of the show, Eldorado, he is caught stealing at the Ritz Carlton and Nucky gets him out of trouble, still not knowing of his true identity. Once Nucky leaves Tommy proceeds to follow him down the boardwalk. After talking he reveals his identity to Nucky and shoots Nucky twice in the body, and once in the cheek[1]. It appears he was hauled off by internal revenue agents and was sentenced to a prison for murder most likely.